1. Field
The present embodiments relate to techniques for driving a display from a computer system. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to techniques for reducing power consumption in the computer system by driving the display from a low-power GPU and placing a high-power GPU in a low-power state while the high-power GPU is in an idle state.
2. Related Art
Computer systems are beginning to incorporate high-resolution, high-power graphics technology. Rapid developments in this area have led to significant advances in 2D and 3D graphics technology, providing users with increasingly sophisticated visual experiences in domains ranging from graphical user interfaces to realistic gaming environments. Underlying many of these improvements is the development of dedicated graphics-rendering devices, or graphics-processing units (GPUs). A typical GPU includes a highly parallel structure that efficiently manipulates graphical objects by rapidly performing a series of primitive operations and displaying the resulting images on graphical displays.
Unfortunately, there are costs associated with these increased graphics capabilities. In particular, an increase in graphics performance is typically accompanied by a corresponding increase in power consumption. Consequently, many computer systems and portable electronic devices may devote a significant amount of their power to support high-performance GPUs, which may cause heat dissipation problems and decrease battery life.
One solution to this problem is to save power during low-activity periods by switching between a high-power GPU that provides higher performance and a low-power GPU with better power consumption. However, applications that use the high-power GPU may prevent a switch to the low-power GPU, even during idle periods in which graphics processing is not performed on the high-power GPU.
Hence, what is needed is a mechanism for reducing power consumption by switching from a high-power GPU to a low-power GPU during an idle state of the high-power GPU.